Of Family turned Flight Chronicles
by Equinox007
Summary: Set in the AU modern verse. Despite Japan having undergone numerous changes in social norms, some clans still prefer the age old traditional touch; naturally such clans have a lot of power and respect. The Uchiha happen to be one such clan, and are one of the few families that still practice clan traditions to a degree... Well, somewhat.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is an AU, modern verse Japan if you will. The Uchiha are one of the few wealthy families/clans who still practice traditions to a slight degree.**

Black eyes widened a fraction as pale, nimble fingers flipped off switch after switch, the droning of machinery lessening with every flip.

"_What_ are you doing?"

His partner paused, turning to him with a half hearted grin; silver hair successfully concealing one eye. He had one hand on the control column, and he could see how taut the muscles in his arm were from the strain of balancing an entire aircraft "You should be used to this by now".

Pause. Of course, how could he forget?

Slowly retrieving his fingers, Hatake Kakashi chuckled lightly, amused at his student's seemingly placid expression - he had flown with him enough to know how annoyed he was. Which honestly made it all the more fun.

Their eyes met and he loosened his grip some more, now keeping the control column steady with only three fingers. The machine groaned, and Kakashi suspected that the engine was going to die off soon "Don't wimp out now" came the intentionally childish remark before he removed his hand completely and the trainee was forced to grab on to his control column with two pale hands, dark eyes narrowed in concentration as the plane's engine died with a last splutter and the nose began to dip lower.

The situation was basically an emergency, though thankfully the weather was being merciful to them today - still not something, however, the trainee would feel at ease with.

Though really, this was routine.

Somewhat perplexed by the notion of being oddly comfortable with the idea of dropping to the ground in a mess of twisted metal and fire, Itachi withheld the grin threatening to tug at his features before pulling the control column towards himself, forcing the nose of the aircraft just a few centimeters above the horizon line so the plane would glide to a descent rather than fall. Next to him, his impromptu instructor had taken to putting his arms behind his head, relaxing one leg atop the other and whistling a nonsensical tune he (and the people back at the radio tower) could hear all too well.

If they kept this up, ground base was going to have yet another field day. Bespectacled dark orbs glanced fleetingly at the level indicator before switching to the RPM dial, moving one hand to the throttle knob as he did so. With everything switched off, the small Cessna was like a metal glider, though with its proportions, one small mistake would result in a mesh crash.

If he were lucky, that is "At least let me switch the engine on, there is a reason aircrafts come with propellers" he monotoned, deadpanning as the man released a particularly high whistle as a response.

"I'm serious"

"So am I"

"...you want me to land this thing without any power?"

"That's the idea, yes"

A random bird swooped over the windshield with a squawk.

"You can't be serious"

"Oh but I am. By the way, you're at the bend, be careful not to crash us into a coma~" came the almost musical tone before Kakashi nonchalantly reattached the seatbelt he had discarded earlier and then came to meet the Uchiha's underlying bewildered gaze with a ridiculously calm one "No, really. I have a son to teach too"

"..."

"What? He needs a driver's license! _And_ he's already your age!"

**~0~**

Back on the ground base, Uchiha Mikoto cocked her head as daintily as a wife of an important man with a reputation to uphold could, folding her hands neatly on top of the other as a few uniformed men stepped into the office, joking about off-tune whistles and wayward propellers. She wouldn't have been much bothered with it, though what caught her attention was when one of them mentioned her eldest and the instructor that was trying to make sure they crashed into a coma induced death.

What on earth was going on? Besides, Itachi couldn't go into a coma just yet, they had a family dinner to attend tonight. Placing an elegant finger on her chin, she furrowed her eyebrows lightly at the thought; not that she disliked family gatherings, Mikoto actually preferred mingling with people rather than her anti-social husband who would simply frown in multiple disapprovals – but her sister in law had mentioned that she would be coming along with her children, which, wasn't entirely a bad thing per se, but the woman was prone to bragging about her eldest who was going to be a doctor soon. The profession was an honorable one, and Mikoto was genuinely happy for the child, though she didn't approve of the fact that her dear sister in law would belittle her own children because of that.

None of them had gone into the scientific field and were mostly belittled because of that since most of their clan was too narrow minded to think outside the box. She was sure that had she not insisted, Fugaku would have pushed them towards the medical or engineering field.

Mouth downturned at the memory of quarrelling with her husband for the first time. She had never felt a more overwhelming sense of indignation and rebellion when he had insisted against her, but he was a father, what did he know? Comical fiery sparks lit in her eyes at the thought as she clenched a fist, her hair threatening to fly up like her friend Kushina's did from time to time, making the two men who had come in earlier pause and stare.

Not that she noticed, she was too busy mentally flashing a victory sign with her fingers under a banner that read "Mothers Know Best" until a throat was cleared and she was snapped out of her reverie. An older, blonde uniformed male was sitting on one knee in front of her, resting one arm on his raised knee as apprehensive blue orbs stared at her, worried.

Namikaze Minato, Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Japan and the owner/flight in charge of the flying school was a good friend of the family – the only one who wasn't affected by her husband's timely grumpiness; though Mikoto had rarely seen him worried…much.

"Daijobou, Mikoto san?"

Sheepish, her cheeks colored slightly "Ah..hai, Minato san" she answered, banishing her internal chibi to the farthest corner of her mind so it could celebrate in peace "Gomen, I supposed I was day dreaming a little…" trailing off, she let out an embarrassed little chuckle as a comical sweat drop made its way down the side of her head.

Whoops.

**~0~**

"..Control this is four two eight Juliet November requesting landing instructions"

"Copy four two eigh-"

"Lucy! I'm coming home!"

"…"

"…"

"Down where the railroads meet and the plains sing kum-ba-yaaaa"

"…"

"Four two eight Juliet November, clear for landing"

"Affirmative" fingers twitched as they raised the attached microphone to rest next to the radio headphones he was wearing before shooting the man next to him one of his trademark glares "Did you accidentally get too much wind from our last dive?" he deadpanned. The silver haired man didn't seem bothered from the remark though, and simply pointed ahead as the runaway came closer and closer and Itachi's grip on the control column tightened. He was a fairly talented student who had mastered the flight circuit in his third attempt, and the landing in his first; though this was his first landing without any sort of engine power and the plane was lower than usual which amounted to two possibilities; either it would crash propeller first or scrape the ground – neither of which he could afford.

Of course, there was a procedure for every emergency. All he had to do was raise the nose of the aircraft so that it landed on its hind wheels first, though if he raised it even a millimeter too high it would result in a mesh crash and without any power, he had no chance of recovering.

His mother would kill him, naturally. Not because of the cost of fixing the plane but because they had a family dinner to go to tonight.

"Badum badum~"

Deadpan. Steeling his expression, he left the rudder panels and immediately went to the RPM lever, thumb poised at the knob while maneuvering the aircraft with his grip on the control column, dark eyes focused on the rapidly approaching runaway "centerline, speed; centerline, speed" he repeated to himself, a childish habit of his which had served as a failsafe more than once.

"Centerline, speed" not noticing the amused expression his instructor wore, he swallowed as the aircraft slowed down, the propeller dipping towards the ground as the machine drifted lower and lower and he allowed it, just until the level indicator showed brown and then he pulled up, slightly, almost gently but with baited breath as the plane groaned and its hind wheels made contact with the asphalt, hopping once before steadying; followed by the nose-wheel while the speed meter declined rapidly from 60 to 40, and then further to 20 after occasional, persistent taps on the breaks. Only when the speed meter showed a speed of 10 km/h did he dare relax somewhat.

Next to him Kakashi grinned before 'lightly' slapping the back of his head which made him see spots momentarily "Well done! I knew you could do it" he chuckled before going back to his lazy posture "Now bring the plane to the apron so we can call it a day" he said, yawning.

"Hai hai" Itachi replied, too relieved to care and switched on the engine, pushing the throttle lever to maneuver the plane towards the apron. The apron was basically what they called the airplane parking lot – it's where the flying school kept most of its frequently used planes.

A uniformed man ran up in front of the plane as soon as he neared the marked boundary, using two light sticks to guide him properly; not that Itachi could turn the plane much, it was basically a forwards-backwards movement a pilot could be in control of. After making sure everything was switched off, the Uchiha nimbly pulled himself out of the cockpit and took a breath of fresh air. It was ridiculously stuffy in there.

Not to mention cramped. Running a hand through his sweaty hair, Itachi was about to follow his instructor to log in his flight hours but stopped at seeing his mother coming out of the office.

Goodness, was he in trouble already? The woman started making her way to the parking lot before noticing him and waving, a familiar smile growing on her features which, he had to admit was quite infectious as he felt his face muscles tug on their own accord.

"I'm so glad you finished your circuit early dear, I came to get you for the you know what!" she called, turning a few heads as she started to walk towards him, beckoning him with one hand, her smile turning slightly sheepish. It wasn't unusual for her to be here, she was just as fascinated with planes as he was, and often went on practice rides though only in his and Kakashi's company did she actually allow herself to depict excitement.

Thus was the life of a wealthy housewife.

"Forgive me for intruding dear, but I was a bit bored" she began as soon as she was close enough "Which reminds me, Shisui wants to meet with you beforehand as well" she said, lowering her voice a notch "About a pre-dinner prank?" she said with uncertainty, a tinge of disapproval coloring her tone.

Heaven help a cousin who couldn't keep his mouth shut even if his life depended on it. Deadpanning momentarily, Itachi felt a comical sweat drop trail down the side of his head as his mother's reprimanding expression intensified and he could practically _feel _the lecture he was about to get on the ride home.

Maybe he should have crashed into a coma after all, the possibility seemed rather entertaining at the moment.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I blame the time and laziness, that I do. Also, this is short – forgive me for that ^^; consider it a blooper scene before we resume.**

It is said that with a little bit of compassion, patience and the right amount of motivation, a series of events would prove nothing but success.

Sadly, such an equation lacked the odder than thou parameters.

"Do you _mind_?"

"Well gee, _excuse moi_"

"Get out of here and let me do my job Uchiha"

"Hey! I'm just here to make sure you do your job correctly"

A vein began to throb in her forehead at that. Honestly, did he even realize who he was talking to? She was the best event planner in the whole damn business. Hazel orbs narrowed in irritation as the curly haired Uchiha criticized the color of tablecloth she had chosen for the third time. Honestly, this happened every bloody year, one would think the Uchiha would get less prissy over it – but no, they still had to be extra wary every time because she hailed from the Senju clan.

Not that her own clan didn't pop a blood vessel when she had agreed to the job in the first place. Hashirama oji had been characteristically excited whilst granduncle Tobirama was being prissy. Granted, her clan wasn't as touchy as the Uchiha…well, or at least it _tried _not to be – she was honestly tired of it all.

She was an interior designer and an event planner respectively, famous for her creative genius. The fact that the label of "Senju" was stuck to her name was solely because of familial ties, other than that she really couldn't care less. The whole clan issue thing was something the elders bothered with anyway, recent generations of once-important clans such as the Aburame and even the Uzumaki were moving away from the traditional mindset; which, well, she couldn't really decide whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

Currently however, it would have been a much appreciated luxury "For the nth time, brat, I don't care whether you're too color blind to understand the difference between red and vermillion" she snapped, grabbing the table cloth he had been holding like a wet rag and giving him a glare that made him cringe "I'm not changing anything unless you want to take over as planner and assume responsibility when that dead pole Fugaku whines about the mismatched cutlery later" she added, smirking in satisfaction as aforementioned Uchiha paled at the image of the clan head in a sour mood.

It's not like he wasn't usually in a bad mood, but Uchiha Shisui didn't need any negative marking where the man was concerned – he was already convinced that he was bad company for his eldest anyway. Swallowing thickly, Shisui opened his mouth to respond before the scowling image made him wince once more and the remark he was going to give simply died in his stomach "Fine fine, you win, Major Blondie" he sighed, oblivious at the Blonde's directed glare at the nickname. Releasing a somewhat dramatic sigh and wearing what one would call a pout (not in his case, he refused to admit it because of the unmanliness) he loosely crossed his arms in front of his chest, watching with a subdued fascination as the blonde went about the room, ordering people left and right.

Honestly, why couldn't he be that intimidating? Usually whenever he told his younger cousins to do something they'd simply stare and tell him to do it himself…well, all apart from Itachi of course – there was a reason he liked the runt.

Speaking of runt, where the heck was he anyway? They were supposed to be planning something that would make this dull event actually worthwhile.

Besides, if Itachi was involved, chances were that Fugaku wouldn't give them that much of a punishment. All he and Sasuke had to do was blame the "heir" and promptly skidaddle.

Speaking of, he hoped Sasuke wasn't as awol as his brother. Hopefully he had done his part by now.

**~0~**

"I swear to kami, this is the la-"

"That's what you said last time"

"Really tebayo?"

"Honestly?"

"Sh!" Naruto and Sakura blinked at one another before turning their attention to the scowling Uchiha, who was plastered against the wall, a small box of supplies under one arm as the other occasionally snaked forward, only to return at the slightest noise.

Maybe he was taking this too seriously. Sharing a knowing glance, both shrugged before huddling close to his pseudo-spy form, heads barely popping from the side of the wall "Neh, the coast is clear tebayo" Naruto whispered (or tried to) before he was bopped on the head none to gently, only to receive a glare in return.

"Not yet" Sasuke practically hissed before raising a finger to his lips to avoid anymore talking.

Sheesh.


End file.
